SPOKANE, Wash.  Five players reached double digits in scoring and Whitman's ninth-ranked Blues used a second-half surge to take down Texas Lutheran University, 98-82, in non-conference men's basketball action Saturday night at the Quality Inn Whit Classic.

Though Whitman (3-0) led for all but 4 minutes and 30 seconds over the course of the game the Bulldogs (3-2) would claw and scratch their way to only a three-point deficit, 53-50, to the Blues at the halftime break.

Early action in the second half, though, showed the halftime talk delivered by head coach Eric Bridgeland hit its mark.

Tied at 55 in the early moments Jase Harrison dropped in a 3-pointer to put the Blues back on top. A TLU turnover eventually led to a rebound and put-back by JoJo Wiggins to up the lead to five.

From that point forward it was 2, 3 or 5 steps forward, 1 or 2 back for Whitman as its long-range attack finally started to hit the mark, after going 1-for-7 from beyond the arc in the first half, and its pressure defense finally wore down the Bulldogs.

Harrison and Jack Stewart each drained a pair of treys in the second half, and Cedric Jacobs-Jones added another to help break down the Texas Lutheran defense while adding fuel to the surge over the final 20 minutes.

Whitman's greater success in its offensive end forced pressure on TLU to keep up, but the Bulldogs shot only 35 percent (13-of-37) from the floor in the second, after registering a 44 percent rate in the opening half.

Neither team was able to get into a rhythm for any stretch during the game with 62 whistles by the officials, which turned into an unwieldy and rhythm-breaking 82 free throws, coincidentally 41 by each team.

Whitman succeeded on 32 of those shots from the stripe, for a 78 percent night, but the Bulldogs converted only 27 for a 66 percent evening from the line.

Harrison finished the contest with a game-high 22 points but Tim Howell (17 points), Stewart (14), Christian McDonald (11) and Austin Butler (10) were major contributors as well. 

Butler -- who also came away with eight of the Blues' 13 steals -- fell one rebound short of picking up the double-double.

TLU's Matthew Gillette completed a double-double with 10 boards and led the Bulldogs with 21 points, but the next closest teammate in the scoring column was Jordan Kouremetis who added only 11 in the losing effort.

Its Northwest Conference opener is on tap next for Whitman, which will travel to Salem, Oregon, where it will take on host Willamette University in an 8 p.m. contest Friday, Dec. 2.